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Ask HN: What's next for this codebase?

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Re: Ask HN: What's next for this codebase?

#11

Post by splynch »

I would look at either making the source code available to the forensics community, or pivot and release a program geared towards forensics. There is a market for tools to pull data off mobile devices. Currently its somewhat fragmented with a lot of players, but (having used your software, and working in digital forensics), I'd say you probably have the codebase to distinguish yourself in pulling data from blackberrys.

If you want to see what else is out there, look at paraben forensics, guidance software, and cellebrite.

Re: Ask HN: What's next for this codebase?

#12

Post by pktm »

splynch wrote: post #11

I would look at either making the source code available to the forensics community, or pivot and release a program geared towards forensics. There is a market for tools to pull data off mobile devices. Currently its somewhat fragmented with a lot of players, but (having used your software, and working in digital forensics), I'd say you probably have the codebase to distinguish yourself in pulling data from blackberry…

Ah, interesting idea!

I looked at the apps you recommended, and it seems like at least Paraben has some BlackBerry support already.

How might we distinguish ourselves?

Re: Ask HN: What's next for this codebase?

#13

Post by pktm »

martey wrote: post #6
caf wrote: post #5

To be perfectly honest, if you open sourced it but just put up the source to download (and not precompiled binaries for OS X), you'd probably sell close to as many copies as you do now. Another alternative is to port it to Linux and try selling it through Ubuntu's new software store. I imagine that BlackBerry don't make a native Linux app yet?

To be perfectly honest, if you open sourced it but just put up the source to download (and not precompiled binaries for OS X), you'd probably sell close to as many copies as you do now. Although it is also possible that someone would compile the source and put a binary on the Internet for free, undercutting sales.

Yeah I can see this going both ways, really. (That is, similar sales volume or drastically reduced sales volume.)

And, as I say, I think there's a real benefit to taking something like this and opening it up, I'm just not sure I'm willing to risk it - for now - especially since I'm already competing against _one_ free alternative.

Re: Ask HN: What's next for this codebase?

#14

Post by splynch »

pktm wrote: post #12
splynch wrote: post #11

I would look at either making the source code available to the forensics community, or pivot and release a program geared towards forensics. There is a market for tools to pull data off mobile devices. Currently its somewhat fragmented with a lot of players, but (having used your software, and working in digital forensics), I'd say you probably have the codebase to distinguish yourself in pulling data from blackberry…

Ah, interesting idea! I looked at the apps you recommended, and it seems like at least Paraben has some BlackBerry support already. How might we distinguish ourselves?

The paraben tool requires blackberry desktop manager to be installed, and just hooks into their application for support. It then puts the data into a paraben-specific file format, preventing someone from being able to analyze the data with other tools. If you are interested and want more specific ideas for development, id be happy to talk about this in a less public venue than an open internet forum.

Re: Ask HN: What's next for this codebase?

#15

Post by pktm »

splynch wrote: post #14
pktm wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, interesting idea! I looked at the apps you recommended, and it seems like at least Paraben has some BlackBerry support already. How might we distinguish ourselves?

The paraben tool requires blackberry desktop manager to be installed, and just hooks into their application for support. It then puts the data into a paraben-specific file format, preventing someone from being able to analyze the data with other tools. If you are interested and want more specific ideas for development, id be happy to talk about this in a less public venue than an open internet forum.

Ah! That's certainly something they don't make clear on their pages!

Yes, please. If you're willing to contact me off-list (see profile for email address), I'd be most grateful.

Re: Ask HN: What's next for this codebase?

#16

Post by caf »

bigfudge wrote: post #7
martey wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be perfectly honest, if you open sourced it but just put up the source to download (and not precompiled binaries for OS X), you'd probably sell close to as many copies as you do now. Although it is also possible that someone would compile the source and put a binary on the Internet for free, undercutting sales.

Wouldn't it be possible to add a clause prohibiting distribution of binaries?

Then it wouldn't really be open source anymore. But you could stop people from offering it under your trademarked name (like the way Red Hat does it).

Re: Ask HN: What's next for this codebase?

#17

Post by caf »

pktm wrote: post #9
caf wrote: post #5

To be perfectly honest, if you open sourced it but just put up the source to download (and not precompiled binaries for OS X), you'd probably sell close to as many copies as you do now. Another alternative is to port it to Linux and try selling it through Ubuntu's new software store. I imagine that BlackBerry don't make a native Linux app yet?

Interestingly enough, a Linux build _was_ one of the pivots we'd experimented with. Maybe it was because we chose the wrong distro, or our general ignorance of what Linux users might want, but this seemed to generate little to no interest amongst the Linux market/s. If anyone here knows better, or wants to tell us what we did wrong, I'm happy to hear it.

It probably does depend a lot on what distro you target - Ubuntu being the most "consumer-focussed" one, that's the one I'd suggest. They also have their Ubuntu Software Store, which allows you to sell apps through a desktop application, something like the Ubuntu version of the iTunes app store. It's early days yet for that though, so hard to tell how it'll go.

Re: Ask HN: What's next for this codebase?

#18

Post by pktm »

caf wrote: post #17
pktm wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly enough, a Linux build _was_ one of the pivots we'd experimented with. Maybe it was because we chose the wrong distro, or our general ignorance of what Linux users might want, but this seemed to generate little to no interest amongst the Linux market/s. If anyone here knows better, or wants to tell us what we did wrong, I'm happy to hear it.

It probably does depend a lot on what distro you target - Ubuntu being the most "consumer-focussed" one, that's the one I'd suggest. They also have their Ubuntu Software Store, which allows you to sell apps through a desktop application, something like the Ubuntu version of the iTunes app store. It's early days yet for that though, so hard to tell how it'll go.

Can one do this and distribute a closed-source app this way? Is it practical to do so?

In addition to the feedback we got on our choice of distros, we also got a number of complaints about our offering a closed-source app for Linux.

Again, that's probably my ignorance of the Linux market in general, but I have the sense users are pretty evenly divided on this point.

(Thanks, BTW!)

Re: Ask HN: What's next for this codebase?

#19

Post by caf »

pktm wrote: post #18
caf wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It probably does depend a lot on what distro you target - Ubuntu being the most "consumer-focussed" one, that's the one I'd suggest. They also have their Ubuntu Software Store, which allows you to sell apps through a desktop application, something like the Ubuntu version of the iTunes app store. It's early days yet for that though, so hard to tell how it'll go.

Can one do this and distribute a closed-source app this way? Is it practical to do so? In addition to the feedback we got on our choice of distros, we also got a number of complaints about our offering a closed-source app for Linux. Again, that's probably my ignorance of the Linux market in general, but I have the sense users are pretty evenly divided on this point. (Thanks, BTW!)

That's the intention - (eg. http://www.workswithu.com/2010/09/10/fluendo-dvd-player-for-... ). Like I said, it's early days though.

There are a significant number of Linux users who highly value the ability to see how the software they use works, and modify it as they see fit. Many of these users consider it a moral imperative that all software they run is open to inspection and modification. You won't sell anything to the people in this latter category - and you'll probably get a few angry emails, too.

On the other hand, there are also plenty of Linux users out there running closed-source NVidia drivers, Oracle databases and more.

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